You could be forgiven if you think it rather peculiar that the government is still clueless about what it wants Brexit to look like and that the Prime Minister feels it necessary to hold a special cabinet meeting to explore the options. The situation is not made easier by reports, far from reassuring, of quarreling […]
The BMA is right to point out that the widespread practice, driven by necessity, of GPs expecting to treat patients in a ten minute consultation is wrong by every measure. Ten minutes is not enough to deal with any but the most trivial of conditions or mundane of routines. These should anyway be carried out […]
The deal between the Colombian government and the Farc rebels, brokered by Cuba assisted by Norway in four years of talks, proves that even after fifty plus years of fighting wars can be brought to an end. And not by violence, but by talking. Talking between enemies, no matter how bitter and guilty of what […]
Well that depends. If you know about US politics, if you listen to pundits and you believe opinion polls the answer is a resounding yes. But if you have an instinct for danger when out in the wilds, you may have doubts. Because this election for President is very much wild when it comes to being […]
This is the plan of Owen Smith, if elected leader of the Labour party. The idea misses several important points. Immediately after the Brexit vote I said the people had voted for a mirage, that what was promised could not be delivered, there was no majority in parliament for Brexit and it would be constitutionally proper […]
While we have been focused on the triumphs of Team GB in Rio, things have been happening in this cauldron of death and confusion, which was supposed to be a beacon of democracy to light the world, according to the pea brains who inaugurated the biggest military and foreign policy failure in centuries. There is no need […]
No rational person predicted that Team GB would beat the entire world apart from the US and come second in Rio. Especially not of my generation, fed on almost a lifetime of Olympic under achievement until the breakthrough in Beijing. There is of course much talk about sporting legacies, with inspiration seeping into every park and […]
I am not a sporty person so I am very much a spectator, but as a youngster I was taught boxing, so when I watch a fight I understand exactly what is going on. There is no doubt at all that Joe Joyce won his bout by a margin and should have been awarded the gold medal. He was […]
It is difficult to see whether this will make any difference to the contest. If the vote were close or if Smith were followed by enthusiastic crowds to match Corbyn’s on his itinerary across the country, it might very well be a clincher. But that is not apparently the case. Party members, all but the […]
The Government keeps telling us the UK economy is in great shape. It rather depends what they mean. Retail sales seem to be holding up quite well. Manufacturing shows signs of responding to the exceptional opportunities offered by the low pound. Shares are high and property prices may be off the boil although still simmering. Wages in […]